Are you Joint Commission Ready?

With less than a month left until 2010, MediClean wants to know if you are prepared for the New Year? With Health Care-Associated Infections (HAIs) being one of the leading causes of death and attributes to the financial burden of over $28 billion dollars a year in healthcare costs – safety protocols are undoubtedly on your mind.

Many of our healthcare organizations are highly regulated by OSHA, CDC, CMS, the State, and the Joint Commission. With this year’s recent H1N1 outbreak and the continued fight again HAIs and other Multi-drug resistant organisms (MDROs) it is only a matter of time before all healthcare organizations become just as regulated as our hospitals.

Depending on the organization, different interventions will be applied to fit their focus on reducing the spread of infections. However, there are a few guidelines and interventions that MediClean follows that are sure to help your organization be better prepared for the Joint Commission and insuring patient safety.

The first step is to set goals in your practice to minimize the possibility of transmission of infections. For example, one goal could be to limit unprotected exposure to pathogens throughout your practice and the transmission of infections associated with procedures and the use of equipment.

Once you have set these goals it is then time to implement them in your practice. A good intervention for limiting unprotected exposure to pathogens and the transmission of infections is to ensure that your laundry service and housekeeping are compliant with the same standards your organization is required to follow. Another intervention for this goal would be to improve your compliance in hand hygiene.

In order to stay in regulations with the Joint Commission you must comply with the current World Healthcare Organization (WHO) hand hygiene program or the CDC hand hygiene program. Many health care providers do not see the cause-and-effect relationship between properly washing your hands and preventing infection because of the delay between hand hygiene and emergence of an infection. According to the CDC the compliance rate in hand hygiene among staff in health care organizations ranges between 25%-50%. Therefore, another goal could be to improve compliance with your hand hygiene guidelines. Providing an intervention with your staff and patients that includes statistics, illustration connecting between hand hygiene and infection control may better your ratings.

The last step is to evaluate the effectiveness of your infection control processes. In order to see if the goals and implementations you set forth are really working you need to evaluate them. The Joint Commission will also want to see your results as will your administration. Evaluating your effectiveness can also help you in determining the best solutions for implementing your goals.

You should check the Joint Commissions web site (www.jointcommission.org) for further details regarding all regulations pertaining to your healthcare organization. 2010 is going to bring Infection Control to a much needed new light in healthcare. Insuring your patients and employee’s safety regardless of the cost should be on the forefront of all our minds. Regardless of the type of infection, all diseases highlight the importance of being prepared; it is just whether you would rather pay the price tag of reacting to the infections instead of preventing them all together.

Article written by: Chanel Schonert, MediClean

Cheaper Isn't Better...

We are all aware of our current economic times and watching our dollars is essential to our business. We are all having to make some cut backs, spend less, save more and do more on our own. In this economy so many of us are wanting the “best bang for our buck” but are forgetting that you get what you pay for.

When it comes to your buying decisions, what are the factors you look for? Typically they would be: quality, knowledgeable staff, ease, customer service, price, or additional features or options? Now take those factors and put them into order from least important to the most important when you are making a buying decision. In most cases price isn’t the number one factor when you are making most of your buying decisions.

I recently found a study on The American Consumer Institute web site regarding “Who consumers prefer – Wal-Mart or Best Buy?” The study took a look at consumer buying decisions for consumer electronics using the two largest retailers, Best Buy and Wal-Mart. Part of the survey asked consumers to rank (on a scale from 1 to 5, with 1 being the least important) how important various factors were when buying consumer electronics. As you can see from the chart below, price is not the determining factor. Quality is the most important.

Ironically you would think price would be higher on the scale due to the cost of most electronic goods. However, when you look at all the complexities involved with an electronic product – memory, storage, pixels, format, connectivity compatibility, compression, HD, etc… you then realize that the price no longer is the key factor anymore.

The same can be said about other buying decisions and even wages. It’s no lie that everyone likes a good deal but, when is a “good deal” too good to be true? Would you expect a minimum wage employee to perform the same quality of work as someone being paid $20.00 an hour? And if they did – how long do you think that would last.

Most of your practices outsource a laundry service. What if your current laundry service wasn’t meeting your expectations; the linens weren’t cleaned well enough, the service was never coming on time, your linens didn’t smell fresh. You are clearly unhappy but, they were the cheapest price around town. Why would you put quality behind price?

These are all just examples but we see, even ourselves, put price above quality every day. The point we need to remember is that quality is what will make us appreciate and want to refer a product or service above all. Price is nice, but it will not provide the quality needed to perform the job we want It to. The next time you are making a buying decision for your company, whether it is a product or service, think about all the factors. If you are wanting the “cheapest” price for something make sure you know all the complexities of that product or service first. If not, you could end up paying more in the end.

Article written by: Chanel Schonert, MediClean

2009 Fall Flu Season Is Approaching! what to do...

With our summer soon ending, our flu season is soon approaching. According to the CDC, this year's flu season is looking to be a double hitter. On top of our seasonal influenza virus (common flu), the H1N1 or more commonly known as the Swine Flu, is still hanging around as well. Health officials are starting to take a pro active approach to help get a jump start on combating the amount of individuals catching any flu virus this year. American's who usually get a flu shot each year should expect to receive three flu shots this year.
Now, the best vaccine for your practice is to use the proper methods and procedures to disinfect your office daily. Those of you who work in close corners with your co-workers and who see patients all day long, taking these steps will help lower your chances of spreading a virus and contracting one.

Disinfecting - Steps to Follow:
Make sure you are using a disinfectant that kills all viruses, including H1N1 (Influenza A strain) Note: Most house hold disinfectant cleaners won't kills all viruses and bacteria, in fact some cleaners can actually be breeding grounds

1. Wipe and disinfect the front entrance door handles.
2. Wipe and disinfect all door handles in your practice.
3. Wipe and disinfect all phones.
4. Wipe and disinfect all cabinet handles throughout the building.
5. Wipe and disinfect all levers and turn-able devices in the building.
6. Wipe and disinfect all keypads.
7. Wipe and disinfect all light switches.
8. Wipe and disinfect all public press-able buttons.
9. Wipe and disinfect all computer mouse devices.
10. Wipe and disinfect all desks and workstation tables, especially your reception desk.

Make sure you are consistently washing your hands. Reception area should have plenty of hand sanitizer available and within reach.

If you have further questions or would like more information please contact MediClean.